Bundle loading device



J. K. BARTO BUNDLE LOADING DEVICE Feb. 9, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15. 1957 FIG. .1.

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Feb. 9, 1960 J. K. BARTO 2,924,340

BUNDLE LOADING DEVICE Filed Nov. 15. 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /8 FIG. 3.

FIG. 5.

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4 TTQQNEYS United States PatentO BUNDLE LOADING DEVICE John K. Barto, Freeport, NY.

Application November 15, 1957, Serial No. 696,755

1 Claim. or. 211-448) This invention relates to a rack which is particularly designed for use on piers during ship loading and unloading operations, although the rack may quite possibly have use in other cargo handling situations.

In the loading and unloading of ships, it is of course desirable to form loads into individual units to the maximum extent possible. In other words, the greatest possible number of articles, suchas crates, boxes, etc., should be brought together as a single unit, to remain as a unit during movement when being readied for loading on a ship, loaded thereon, or unloaded from the ship. This of course simplifies the loading and unloading operations to a high degree.

The use of cargo pallets for this purpose has of course been common practice for a long time. However, there are many types of commodities which do not lend themselves well to palletizing and therefore are still primarily handled piece by piece in .order to make up a draft. Among such commodities would be pipe (which may be of any of a large range of diameters and might be up to perhaps 25 feet in length), rigid conduit, cylinders, wire in rolls, etc. 7

The main object of the present invention is to provide a rack designed to permit the making up of a readily handled unit, from commodities such as those listed above which do not readily lend themselves topalletiz- A more particular object is to provide a rack f the character described that will beparticularly designed to permit timing of the racks, and to also permit the ready transportation of the same by conventional loadhandling equipment such as a fork lift, crane, ships loading gear, etc.

A further object of importance is to provide a rack of the character stated that will be characterized by exceptional strength and durability.

A further object is to form the rack in a manner such that the particular formation and relative arrangement of the component parts thereof will not only be designed to facilitate unitizing of the supported articles, but also will provide a particularly effective bracing action.

A further object is to provide a rack of the character described that will be especially well adapted to permit the swift and easy asesmbly of articles upon the rack and the equally swift and easy removal of the articles from the rack.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a rack according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view substantially on line 44 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the rack constituting the present invention includes four like, rectangularly spaced corner posts or standards 10. These are formed from channelled material, the channels facing outwardly and being closed at the lower ends of the posts by lower end walls 11. f

Extending longitudinally of the rack, at opposite sides thereof, are side frame members 12. These are also of channel material, the channels being faced inwardly in confronting relation (see Figure 3), with the webs of the channels in back-to-back contact with the webs of the posts at corresponding sides of the rack. The opposite extremities of the respective side frame members 12 project a short distance outwardly, longitudinally of the rack, beyond the posts disposed at the respective corners of the rack.

Extending between the members 12, at the opposite ends of the rack, are end frame members 14. These are also of channel material, although they are ofsubstantially greater height than the members 12, as'clearly seen from Figure 3. The members 14 have their channels facing outwardly, and at their opposite ends the members 14 are welded to the respective corner posts 10 at the corresponding ends of the rack.

At the several corners of the rack, there areprovided channelled members 16 which not only serve to provide bracing at the corners of the rack, but also serve to guide pipe or similar articles onto and off the device, thereby facilitating the handling of a full load of pipe in a manner to be described in greater detail hereafter. Members 16, at each end of the rack, converge downwardly to a slight extent as shown in Figure 3, terminating at their lower ends at the extremities of the respective cargo support members 14; Members 16 are welded to the associated member 14, and at their upper ends are welded to one end of top plates 18. The top plates 18 are formed from channel material, closed at its opposite ends, so that each top plate is in actuality an elongated, rectangular container opening upwardly so that it can receive the lower end of a corresponding post of a similar rack which is to be supported directly upon the lower rack. In this way, tiering or stacking of the racks is permitted, since each rack has its corner posts 10 seated in the upwardly opening, container-defining top plates 18 provided at the corners of the similar rack next below the same.

The top plates 18 are extended in a fore-and-aft direction, and by reason of being elongated in the manner described, facilitate the stacking of racks without requiring that the racks be aligned perfectly vertically.

Also welded at their upper ends to the respective top plates 18 are wide auxiliary retaining plates 20, of angular cross section as shown in Figure 5. The body portions 21 of the plates 20 are disposed in vertical planes substantially in juxtaposition with the planes of the web portions of the side frame members 12 at the corresponding sides of the rack, as shown in Figure 5. The body portions 21 of the plates 20 are welded at their lower ends to the outer surfaces of the side frame members 12 and the body portions 21 of the side or retaining plates 20 at each side of the rack converge in a downward direction as shown in Figure 4.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, medially between the opposite ends of the rack there is provided a channelled cross brace 22 welded at its ends to and extending between the respective side frame members 12. Underlying cross brace 22 and end members 14 are heavy planks 24, which are secured fixedly at their ends and at their mid-length points to the end members 14 and cross brace 22 respectively, by means of bolts 26 or the like. The planks 24 need not be continuous over the adjacent planksas clear y shown in .Figure .3;

Considering now the functional characteristics of the rack, in use any of a large number of articles, not shown,

can bepla edhpon the track,:until.asnb tantia quant ty of ;s a i d alfl;icles.;is supported pon :atsingle rackem kin upratu it wh ch can. be handled asemhz he-rackfitsel as wi l be readily apparent, eam-be easily .;.tiered rand wtran p d 1. y ork ift cranes. r can b lifted or loaded by a ships loading gear. a

"The extensions .at the op'positeends .of the mcmbers .12, whiehextensionsghave been-.dgsignatedZS, are closed .bywelded insert plates, andthis is .true withxrespect to all channel ends of the device. Theextensions. :12 define extension bars .at oppositetends of the device to permittlifting of-the;rack;into ;a ships hold with a conlventional pallet bridle. This provides .adesirable feature of the invention.

, The invention also 1 nc1udes,'asa desirabletfeature,rthe arrangement wherein the commodity may be placed in or removed from the :rack on the blades of a forklift rttuok; "Theleargo-bearing,;members .14 elevate the ,sup-' ported objects above the planking and above the cross :braceZZ andside members 12,;50 thatthe forklift blades can be inserted in or withdrawn from under the cargo awhile the-cargo is supportedby me-track, withoutdisturbingtherack.

The members 16 .enableatull load ofpipe or the like :to be :removed at the string-piece .of the pier by slings ,withoutbinding against thesides of therack. Conversely,

.when discharging a vessel'loaded with-"lumber, the rack. .isiloaded in theshipls hold and delivered to the stringpiece. Whenthe lumber is delivered 'to .acarrier such .as 'a truck or barge, the cargo is strapped with steel -strapping and :is .then removed from the rack .as' -a unit without fear of binding-against-the sides of the rack. 'The yoke planks boltedto the-underside of the trans- .verse members 14, 22, enable safe transportation o'n'the bladesofa fork lift :truck without "fear of the rack slip- -ping off :as .would be'the case when there is direct steelto-steel contact. a 7 It istbelieved apparent thattheinvention is not necessarily confined to the specific-use or uses thereof described .above, since it may he utilized for any-purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention'to be necessarily limitedto the specific construction illustrated .and described, since such constructionis only intended width qftthe rack,;and there can be open spaces between to be "illustrative of the principles of operation andthe pre ently devised to .QAU'Y o t said prin p t being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that maybe permitted within the scope of the'appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A bundle loading device comprising four like, rectangularly spaced, vertigal cornerposts; a pair of horizontal side frame members each of which is at a side of the loading'device andis fixedly connected at its ends to the corner postsdisposed at the sameside; a pair of horizontal end frame members each of which is at an end of the .loading, device. and is fixedly 1 connecte "betw n the corner posts at the same end; horizontal toprplates atlixed to the upper ends 'of the severalposts and formed as upwardly opening containers positioned to receive the lower ends of corresponding corner posts of a like loading device on stacking of the devices, said top plates being substantially .greater 1 in t area than ;the lower. ends of theuposts iSO as to receive corresponding posts ,in1 both vertically aligned and tvertica'llytniisaligned relationships of the stacking -.-dev,ices .aapair' ofrcombined guiding and "bracing members at each (end ,of the loading device, the

bracing .members ofaeach pairtconverginggin a downward direction, each bracing member being fixedly connected betweenthe end etrame membertand-onetof-the top plates at the same .end of the device;;and Ia pairiof auxiliary -retaininghplates at .eaohwside tof tthe device, 1 each auniliary retaining plate being fixedly connected between one ofthe .top plates .and thelzside frame member at :lhC same side, said auxiliary retaining plates having .con-

frontingedges converging in .a. downward direction.

Relf'erencesQ itedin the file of this patent UN TED STATE P E TS 

